Ernie's Martial Arts Career

Ernie Reyes Jr.'s martial arts career started when he began to train in taekwondo with his father, Ernie Sr., at the age of four. When Ernie Jr. was just a seven year old red belt, he borrowed a black belt from a friend and held his own in the adult division at a national karate tournament. By the time Ernie was eight, he had made history as the first and only child to achieve a national top-10 ranking in the adult competitor ratings of a national magazine. Ernie even tought at martial arts seminars at the age of ten.

Ernie was also a starring member of his father's West Coast Demo Team. The Demo Team traveled the country wowing audiences with it's dynamic choreography and humorous routines. Magazines and newspapers called the team "The Harlem Globetrotters of the Martial Arts" and "The World's Best Demo Team".

After retiring from competition at the ripe old age of twelve to persue his acting career, Ernie continued to train in taekwondo. He took time to demonstrate taekwondo techniques in his father's series of instructional video tapes available through Black Belt Magazine (a very good series) and, last I heard, he had attained the rank of 4th degree black belt. He continues to train under a rigorous daily schedule.

Wanting to get back into competition, Ernie has begun a career in Muay Tai Kickboxing training under six-time world champion, Saekson Janjira. Ernie won both of his first two fights by knockout, one against the California amateur champion and one against the reigning professional European champion. Ernie won his 3rd fight by unanimous decision on October 16, 1999 in San Jose, California at the San Jose Civic Center. It was a good fight, and a very aggressive one. I enjoyed every second of it! I'm really looking forward to seeing Ernie fight again.